ANALYSIS OF DIELECTRIC NITRIDE THIN-FILMS BY NRA,RBS AND X-RAY-DIFFRACTION

Silicon nitride and aluminum nitride thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron reactive sputtering, respectively. By varying the deposition parameters we obtained films with different characteristics. The analyses of the films were performed using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, nuclear reaction analysis (mainly the (d, p) and (p, gamma) nuclear reactions) and X-ray diffraction. From these analytical techniques we obtained the thickness, the stoichiometric ratios N/Si and N/Al of the films, the N and Al depth profiles, the contamination levels of 0 and C as well as an idea of the crystalline structure of the films. Several correlations among deposition parameters and film characteristics were found.